Everyone is familiar with the situation when you are stressed about a huge meeting or presentation that you have the following day and sleep just seems to evade you. You roll over to look at the clock, calculate that there are only 10 hours left to that dreaded event, worry that you will only be able to squeeze in five hours of sleep, and then find it still is impossible to fall asleep. Two hours later and now you only have 8 hours left, three for sleep! It’s a nightmare. Well, we have made a list of the top five ways to ensure you get to sleep at night:

1) Socks
You may think it sounds mad, but it has been proven that it is much easier to get to sleep at night if your feet are warm. That means taking a tip from your granny and snuggle in with a comfy pair of socks at night. It is said to help improve blood circulation, help you relax and induce sleep. So instead of fretting about that big meeting, slip on a pair of slipper socks and be enveloped by sleep!

2) A Warm Drink
There are a great range of drinks on the market, but go for something hot and milky like cocoa, hot chocolate or a malt drink. The most important thing to avoid are tea or coffee after 6pm (or less than 4 hours before you go to bed), as both are known stimulants. Decaffeinated is fine of course.

3) A Hot Water Bottle
Similar to socks, a hot water bottle helps to improve circulation, which means that you will find it much easier to sleep. Also the heat form the bottle helps your muscles to relax and means it’s easier to slip into a cosy nap. So next time you are worrying about that huge meeting at work, take the time to make a hot water bottle and find it easy to go to sleep.

4) No Light
It has also been said that it is hard to sleep when there is any light in the room, so we’re saying make sure you block out all light. That means turning off all lamps and hallway lights and immersing yourself in darkness. On the same note you should try to close your eyes and picture some relaxing scenes. Make yourself fall into a meditative sleep.

5) Relax
It may seem obvious, but there is no way you can fall asleep whilst you are panicking, and again it easy for an outsider to say, but falling asleep is much easier when you’re relaxed. Some good ways to take your mind off it, is by picturing all the usual things:- counting sheep, relaxing areas, or just take your mind off the problem by thinking about what super power you would have if you could.

So next time you’re lying awake, struggling to sleep, think through some of our tips and you are sure to slip off into a dreamy night’s sleep before you can know about it.

Author Bio: Dave Fowler writes on gifts for men for the retailer Find Me A Gift. He is counting down the number of sleeps before he can open his Christmas gifts.

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
Keywords: sleep, good nights sleep, tips, rest, insomnia